San Jose State football: Grading the Week

* Hope everyone had a safe and fun holiday weekend. The Cal grade is coming later this morning, and my Stanford game-by-game predictions will be posted Wednesday …

Probably the best possible outcome for first-year coach Ron Caragher — with one significant exception, which we’ll get to — and here’s why:

The Spartans won handily enough to gain confidence in themselves and the new staff, but there were enough glitches to give the staff reason to grind the players this week (as if facing Stanford weren’t reason enough to grind them!).

The margin of victory speaks to the state of the program: Just three years ago, SJSU lost to another FCS school, UC Davis. Now, the Spartans are beating Sac State despite an assortment of glitches.

Result: Beat Sacramento State 24-0

Grade: B

Comment: With their competitive success the past 52 weeks, the Spartans have reached the point in which thumping a lesser opponent doesn’t automatically warrant an A grade. They have to earn it, and there were enough blips Thursday to drop them to a B.

* The exception noted in the introduction, of course, is the leg/foot injury to tailback Tyler Ervin.

The 175-pounder had durability questions nipping at him through the offseason and training camp, and they proved to be well founded: He was injured on his second rushing attempt and spent the second half on the sideline on crutches.

Even if he’s available this week, it’s hard to imagine Ervin will be full speed and even harder to imagine Ervin emerging from the Stanford game in full health.

The Spartans should take no chances with their top playmaker: Ervin has to be ready for league play Sept. 27 (Utah State). Nothing else matters.

* The good: SJSU had no turnovers and only three penalties against Sac State. In addition, it converted 44 percent on third down and was 2-of-2 in the red zone (1 TD, 1 FG).

* The not-so-good: Quarterback David Fales and his receivers missed some downfield passes, and Fales clearly lacks continuity with the tight ends, including freshmen Billy Freeman and Andrew Vollert.

That could come in a few weeks, or it may never come.

Next up: at Stanford.

The matchup: The logistics couldn’t be more favorable for the Spartans: They have extra time to prepare for an opponent that will be playing its first game – and presumably dealing with standard first-game glitches.

* I’d argue that the key for SJSU is the ground game, except its has as much chance of running successfully on the Cardinal as I have of winning the lottery. (Last year: 2.6 yards per carry.)

So let’s go with this as the key: Protecting Fales.

* SJSU’s only chance to be within striking range in the fourth quarter … to make Stanford squirm … is to give its star quarterback time to find his talented receivers.

For the offensive line, that means not only limiting sacks but also limiting hurries. It means giving Fales a chance to settle into a rhythm.

* I also wonder about SJSU’s defense holding up for 60- minutes against Stanford’s punishing rushing attack.

Without linebacker Vince Buhagiar, and with the new 3-4 alignment (one less lineman on the field), the Spartans will be hard pressed to match Stanford physically to the extent they did last year.